


The Lights of Zetar:  Memory Reboot

by Cheree_Cargill



Series: Glimpses of a Life [72]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Episode: The Lights of Zetar, Gen, Libraries, Loss of Knowledge, War, burning books, looting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:24:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheree_Cargill/pseuds/Cheree_Cargill
Summary: Following the destruction of Memory Alpha, Spock ponders other instances in which knowledge was lost due to various forces destroying libraries.





	The Lights of Zetar:  Memory Reboot

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc. The story contents are the creation and property of Cheree Cargill and is copyright (c) 2018 by Cheree Cargill. This story is Rated G.

_Stardate:_ _5729.53_ _._ _Personal Log._ _First Officer Spock recording._

The Captain was waiting for me as I beamed back aboard from Memory Alpha. "Everything all settled down there?" he asked as I stepped off the transporter platform.

"Yes, Captain," I replied. "Mr. Scott is bidding farewell to Lt. Romaine and finishing up the installation of the new equipment. The restoration crew should begin downloading the data within two days."

As we stepped out into the corridor to return to the bridge, the Captain sighed. "I hope the girl is up to the job."

I peered at him quizzically. "Why do you continue to call Miss Romaine 'the girl'? You do not refer to any of the women on board by that appellation?"

Fittingly, Jim had the decency to look discomfited. "Forgive me, Mr. Spock, and thanks for catching me on that. I have no excuse and I'll try not to do so again. You are absolutely right. I wouldn't call any of the men on board 'the boy'. Okay, let's try that again. Do you think Lt. Romaine is up to the job?"

"Undoubtedly, as it is the one Starfleet assigned her to do. Although it is her first deep space assignment, they would not have chosen her if her qualifications were not appropriate."

"No. I was just referring to the rather horrific events with the Zetar beings and her susceptibility to them." We had paused at the turbolift doors and were waiting as the lift cycled around and opened to admit us. "Bridge," Kirk ordered and the lift began to move swiftly to that location.

I folded my arms across my chest and answered contemplatively, "I believe she will perform her job well once she recovers from those events. Her strength against the Zetars bodes well. And, as they say, work is an excellent therapy. She should soon be fully occupied in helping to rebuild the library."

The turbolift stopped at the bridge and discharged us. As Kirk stepped down to the Captain's chair, instead of going to my own station, I followed him so that we might continue our conversation. He settled back and threw one leg over the other. The rest of the bridge crew were at their stations, occupied quietly in their own jobs. The planetoid of Memory Alpha was on the main screen and I could see other ships in orbit with us. There were ships of Starfleet design, one from Andor, one from Vulcan, and another from Tellar.

Kirk watched them turn around the planet and sighed. "Aside from the scientists and researchers who lost their lives, the loss of the information there is devastating. It's like the Library of Alexandria being burned."

I looked down at him. "Not at all, Captain. All of it will be replaced. You don't actually think all that priceless information was in the original or that there were not backups maintained? It simply needs to be reloaded onto the databanks on Memory Alpha."

He grunted in answer. "No, no, of course I knew that, Mr. Spock." But he did look a bit sheepish. I believe he _had_ forgotten.

I left him and returned to my station, where I began my day's work. As I gathered shipwide reports and compiled them, my thoughts turned to other priceless libraries that had been destroyed over the ages. As the Captain had mentioned, the renowned Library of Alexandria in Egypt had been burned and all of its precious knowledge lost during the Roman era of the Third Century. Many other repositories of Earth's cultural wealth had been destroyed over the millennia, mostly as a result of religion, war or religious wars. One notable case was the Mayan Codices, burned by Spanish conquerors as "pagan" and "heretic" literature. The written history and knowledge of an entire civilization was eradicated, with only a few examples being saved.

It was far from the only occurrence in Earth history. That planet has seen hundreds, if not thousands of such purges. Libraries and museums had been destroyed by invading armies. The museum of Bagdad, Iraq, was pillaged and bombed during one of the numerous wars in the early 21st Century, with many of its priceless artifacts disappearing forever. Only a decade later, and in conjunction with wide-swept revolutions in the Middle East early in the Terror Wars which ultimately led to the near collapse of Earth civilization, the breakdown in government authority in Egypt led to rapacious, wholesale looting of tombs in the Valley of the Kings. So many holes were dug into the desert by those modern day tomb robbers that they could be seen from space.

Of course, Earth is not the only planet in the Federation to experience such loss. In 2151, the Vulcan monastery of P'Jem was destroyed by the Andorians. True, the Vulcans, who were then on the verge of war with Andor, had planted a secret listening post there, but the 3,000 years of history housed at P'Jem was destroyed, an incalculable loss. The Repository of Arkal on Tellar was destroyed by warring forces on that planet, and the Great Library on Delta was destroyed in a violent volcanic eruption that buried the site in lava, burning everything there to ash.

Thankfully, Memory Alpha's data banks were merely wiped clean by the Zetars in their search for compatible races. There were fifteen lives lost in the process, of course, the staff of the facility and three visiting scientists from various worlds, all of which are irreplaceable in their persons. However, new staff members to take their places are already on their way.

Lt. Romaine is leading the team of engineers that are in the process of installing newer, more resistant equipment and a new shielding system for the planetoid. The library will still be open to all races who wish to access the site for research and friendly use, but the lesson has been learned that shielding is needed against hostile attacks. It will be installed as the facility is restored. All the data – and more – will be downloaded from all the planetary libraries that share knowledge there and it should be back up and running within six to seven months.

But what I wouldn't give to go back to visit P'Jem and study the priceless history of my world … now gone forever. It's lost knowledge is a tragedy for all peoples.

THE END

 


End file.
